As the nation prepares for Memorial Day, the Cincinnati area pauses in remembrance of a conflagration whose embers still smolder.

The fire at the Beverly Hills Supper Club was a night of horror and heroism, of unspeakable carnage and unshakeable courage. Whether or not you witnessed the blaze, which eventually killed 165 people, your life was affected by it.

The revolution in class action litigation, the exposure of the dangers of certain kinds of construction materials and the revision of building and fire codes have reached every community in America.

For those who were touched by the horror, memories of the fire at the Northern Kentucky club on May 28, 1977, torments like an unfinished novel. It may be the absence of criminal charges against those responsible for the causes of the fire. It may be lack of a permanent memorial to the victims. And it may be the painful realization that the passage of years, population growth in the Tristate and fresher, bigger national tragedies will inevitably blur the memory of that red-eyed, red-skied night.

Twenty years after that mournful evening The Enquirer revisits the fire at Beverly Hills. This recollection and recitation of the heroic actions of those who tried to save the victims, and who did save most of the patrons, is an obligation of the anniversary. Lives were lost, but the virtue of those who struggled to help others endure must be recalled and honored.